Money Growing: Wooden Heritage

According to Smirnov, Svyatoslav Federov helped to rent the building out in 1994, and this is how the history of the modern Moscow Furniture Museum was made. Modern because in the 1920s such a museum already existed, with a unique collection of rare items. Some of the exhibits belonged to famous businessman Vladimir Girshman, some were furniture from stately homes and palaces. But in 1926 the museum was liquidated and the collection was given to various soviet authorities.

In 1989 cooperative society Vayatel was established. In 1989 Smirnov created Smirvald restoration company. Of course, considering his profession and experience, it would have been much easier to open an antiques shop. But Smirnov considers such places with contempt as, like Plushkin, he collects and keeps everything rather than buys and sells it.

Smirnov absolutely loves his job in spite of all the obstacles and he is not willing to give up under the pressure of circumstances. He is sure that as long as he is alive, the museum, which has more than 500 exhibits, will function. Although to maintain it, it is necessary to be engaged in all kinds of business. In Moscow, where everyone talks about saving cultural heritage, the authorities are not interested in not only private, but all museums.

Arbat origins

The museum, of course, did not come about in an instant. Initially Smirnov worked as a restorer. In soviet times, on Old Arbat in Moscow in the Porokhovshikov building, with the approval of the Library of Kievsky Cultural Department, a restoration workshop measuring 13 sq.m was located in the basement. But Smirnov wanted more. Especially because there was a lot of furniture in very bad condition in the basement. And as the restorers slowly made their way through the piles of furniture they gradually spread across the entire basement floor. And they were also brought things that were beyond restoration, furniture that miraculously survived after the allocation of communal apartments. Incidentally, the majority of exhibits, according to Smirnov, are still brought in absolutely free of charge.

Smirnov says that he has never been able to throw antique items away, so the only thing that remained was for him to work long and hard on them, to make them look like they should. That’s how the first exhibits of the museum were born. And with the arrival of perestroika, the cultural departments (including the one that owned the library) were liquidated, and the library director made the whole building into a workshop.

Famous Russian actor Alexander Porokhovshikov, whose great grandfather constructed the building, helped to keep the premises of the workshop when the restorers were being forced to leave. Then Porokhovshikov created a museum of his great grand father in this building. And Smirnov, owing to a famous but unfortunately deceased person, rented a manor house at 13 Taganskaya ulitsa in Moscow, the origins of which can be tracked as far back as the 17th century.

The origins of the manor also deserve attention. The owners of it were the two Zemskov brothers, who were merchants, then Grigory Ipatev, a factory owner from Ryazan, and after him a famous magnate from the days of Yekaterina and Paul called Nikolai Arshenevsky, etc. The manor survived fires, perestroika, reconstruction…Smirnov says that the building was particularly unlucky with its last owners – Voskhod publishing house – which practically demolished it. Therefore Smirvald had to spend almost 4 years on the reconstruction of the building.

According to Smirnov, a few years ago it was much easier to explain to the city authorities that such a museum must exist in Moscow. After Smirnov applied to the Moscow government and the central administrative board for the protection of monuments, they allocated funds for the purchase of the necessary materials but all the work carried out was funded by Smirvald. On July 17, 2000, the museum opened its doors to the public. It is open daily from 11am-6pm and tickets are cheap by today’s standards – 40 rubles for adults and 20 rubles for children.

Where‘s the money from?

Now, according to Smirnov, he has to do a lot of work to prevent the museum from closing. Rental rates are constantly increasing, you have to pay for expensive municipal services and furthermore the halls have to be kept at a certain temperature to keep the exhibits in their proper condition. All this, says Smirnov, demands, significant expenditures while the museum makes no profit at all.

Muscovites like the Taburet restaurant, which operates at the museum. But how do they know if all the profit from the restaurant will go towards the funding of the museum. Smirnov says: when there was the question of obtaining a license for the sale of alcohol at the restaurant, officials wrote an official letter asking why a museum would need to sell alcohol to visitors. The letter also stated that the department would reconsider its rental contract with the museum on this basis. Even though everyone had known about the restaurant for a long time, says Smirnov.

According to a governmental order of Moscow (no. 931, November 1994) “On the creation of a museum”, the building of the museum was transferred to the museum. And the second building of the house was transferred to Smirvald, and according to the same order the company can locate restoration schools and workshops in the building.

Smirnov says that the Moscow Heritage Committee considered the workshops as “commercial enterprises” and increased rental rates by 4 times. Court cases on this have so far lasted a year and a half. The authorities say that Smirvald is a commercial structure. The fact that the building is used for non-commercial purposes and in accordance to the governmental order doesn’t seem to matter to the department that is supposed to protect the heritage of Russia.

For example students from the University of Straganov come to the workshops to write their diplomas or restore items under the supervision of experienced masters. Students from the Sergei Andriyaki Art School come to draw the interiors of the museum. And when the school year starts the teachers of this famous Moscow school exhibit their work in the museum for a month. And not only teachers. Smirnov says that on July 1, an exhibition of children’s work, devoted to Kizhi, will open.

Smirnov talks about his desire to open a restoration school in one of the premises of the building, so that local teenagers, instead of hanging out on street corners, can come and learn the art of restoring antique items. For this purpose, restorers, working in companies and craftsmen entering into a guild, need to acquire a certificate. And on the basis of this they can take in students.

The director of the museum thinks “in a normal country, they should have at least freed us from paying rent. So there’s no wonder the majority of monuments in Moscow are in a bad condition,” he continues. “Because it is necessary to pay rent for the building, renovate it with your on funds and then hope that the Moscow Heritage Committee will not break the contract for an infringement of the conditions. What sane person would do that? It is not encouraged by anyone.”

A reason to be proud

Smirnov is proud of his workshops, which have 20 craftsmen working there and he is sure that they are some of the best. They don’t only renovate furniture but also create exclusive orders. Here you can order a copy of any museum exhibit. Smirnov is assured that his craftsmen will replicate an item to exact details: they managed to create an exact copy of an eighteenth century clock, which is exhibited in one of the rooms of the museum not far from the original. At first sight it is difficult to distinguish between the two, even the tiniest details have been scrupulously reproduced. Smirnov couldn’t name the average price of restoration by private order, or for the creating an item of furniture form zero. It is too individual, he says.

Smirvald also renovates stately homes, for example the Lobanov-Rostotsky house (an eighteenth century monument at 43 Myasnitskaya ulitsa). The renovation of the building that houses the Cultural Fund is planned.

The businessman explains that the main difference between his workshop and others is that his craftsmen are engaged in particular in museum restoration and not “cosmetics”. Everything is done with our hands without using computers or equipment. We are like surgeons,” he says.

The area of the workshop is about 200 sq.m, the rooms are big, bright, the ceilings are high. They have good heating (heated floors) and ventilation (air-conditioning and ventilation systems). And it can be no other way because the premises always smell of paint, glue or varnish. There is even a special room for stripping old surfaces.

Smirnov is proud of his workshops because of their size, layout and equipment. He says it is impossible to find similar ones even in France. Usually restoration workshops are located in small basement premises without adequate equipment for such work.

Smirnov says that despite all the problems and obstacles he will support the museum “for the rest of his days”. But what will happen after that he doesn’t know. Smirnov has three children but none of them have followed in their father’s footsteps. The oldest son is a sculptor, his daughter owns a shop and the youngest is still studying. All of them see their father’s problems and refuse to be involved with the museum.

On one axis

All tours of the museum are carried out by Nadezhda, Smirnov’s wife, his right hand, who has supported in him in everything from the very beginning.

There are 10 rooms in the museum. When you are inside you experience mixed feelings. It is surprising because you expect to see a standard museum interior with show cases and descriptions and strict attendants. But here everywhere there is just furniture.

It is an absolutely different style, from a different time. The oldest exhibit in the museum dates back to the 17th century. In the firs room, right at the entrance, there are two armchairs, one before restoration and the other after. The difference is so obvious that you just want to say thank you to the skillful ands capable of creating such a masterpiece. Smirnov thinks there is nothing difficult about restoration. To the question, how long does it take to restore such an armchair, he answers, smiling, “not much, only 2-3 months.” And to restore an oak sideboard, made in the 19th-20th century, takes about 6 months.

The interior of the museum is laid out so that visitors move in a circle from one room to another with different subjects. All rooms are based on one axis. The second room, the biggest in the house is referred to as the ballroom. The only thing visitors cannot see are the store rooms of the museum. These occupy 200 sq.m but it is impossible to make even one step into these premises as they are all filled with future exhibits. Now, according to Smirnov, he’s fighting to extend the premises of the museum because the new exhibits in the store rooms could fill several more halls.

Furniture with history

In the museum there are special exhibits. The pride of the director is a copy of a table for engravings, the original of which was worked on 250 years ago by Nikifor Vasilyev and is in Kuskovo. In Smirnov’s workshop they recreated an exact copy of the table using technology to cut panels on the table top with a fret saw. This technology is called marketry. The businessman says that this is the only copy, nobody has ever made another copy before. In producing the table, 20,000 small pieces were used and it took 6 years. Four years ago in Vienna the Days of Moscow festival were held and Smirnov was asked to show the table to his “Viennese Comrades”. He agreed and about six months later found out that the Mayor of Moscow almost gave the table to the Mayor of Vienna as a gift.

There is a wardrobe called the nun, which was made in the eighteenth century. It got its name as it has no decoration on it and is so compact that it was frequently located in the cells of monks. The wardrobe is designed in such a way that the whole wardrobe opens up and reveals lots of shelves and sections. The wardrobe has its own legend. Two Russian friends were abroad and saw the wardrobe and made a bet that Russian craftsmen would not be able to make such a beautiful piece. Having returned home, the friend who backed Russian craftsmen, called his slave and told him e would be released if he made an exact replica of the wardrobe. And he succeeded. Unfortunately the story does not reveal the name of the slave/craftsman. The wardrobe was given to the museum by an old lady, whose family had had the wardrobe for generations.

Another exhibit, an armchair of Alexander I, was bought from a craft hop on Arbat by a woman whose ancestor had served in the court yard the Tsar. In 1801, when Alexander was crowned, he traveled from St. Petersburg to Moscow and warned his friend with whom he studied at school with, that he will come and visit him. His friend then ordered his slaves to make a special armchair for the emperor. And because at the time there was no valuable wood, it was made from birch wood, which was generally used for fires to heat houses. It took one week to make.

On the back of the chair there is a two-headed eagle – in those days this was a symbol of power and not anyone could use it. The eagle was a like a registered trademark of his imperial majesty. The chair still hasn’t been restored.

In the room which houses rare items, there is a chest for a regimental till. The museum generally has a lot of chests and suitcases, but this one is particularly special. It is considered that it witnessed the Patriotic War in 1812. The director of the museum says there is proof to support all these legends. Everyone in the museum believes them.